The Tribune

By KHRISNA VIRGIL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kvirgil@tribunemedia.net

TRANSPORT and Aviation Minister Glenys Hanna Martin yesterday revealed that Royal Bahamas Police Force officials are currently probing missing resources at the Road Traffic Department’s Abaco office valued at more than $660,000.

She told The Tribune that the issue came to light in a report prepared by Auditor General Terrance Bastian, which highlighted “accounting lapses in tracking the resources” like decals, discs and inspection stickers at the Marsh Harbour department.

The report, which is expected to be tabled in the House of Assembly on Wednesday, found a deficit of $662,705. She explained that this is revenue from which the state would have benefited had the money been accounted for during the auditor general’s investigation.

Mr Bastian’s audit took into account a three-year period from January 2012 to March 2015.

Road Traffic Department Controller Ross Smith confirmed that as a result of the findings, three current civil servants are under investigation. A worker who resigned earlier in the year is also being questioned by police, The Tribune was told.

Mrs Hanna Martin said if it is found that there are employees who choose to steal public resources, the government would spare no effort to pursue criminal charges that will result in immediate and permanent removal from the public sector.

She said: “In that audit process he (Mr Bastian) ascertained certain accounting lapses in tracking the resources like decals, stickers and issues with the accounting process from Nassau into Abaco and while in Abaco.

“In the final finding he determined there was a deficit $662,705 which is the value of missing resources, revenue that the state would have gotten if the monies were accounted for. He subsequently made recommendations.

“I am advised that the police are involved. Our position is if people choose to steal public resources, and to do so in an area that involves other issues, if you are doing it off the radar, there is a wider issue that creates corruption.

“We will make every effort to take them out of the public service forever and go the full length to take them out of the system and pursue criminal sanctions.”

She acknowledged that there were systematic issues in the Department of Road Traffic that have created challenges in properly keeping track of the resources and creating a system of accountability.

However, Mr Smith explained that he has put in place protocols and is working on other measures to assist in better monitoring the department’s operations.

He said: “In June we put in place a number of measures to ensure that we strengthened the internal controls. So we appointed a committee that is really going in a new direction to ensure that we have internal control mechanisms in place that will be for the headquarters and all the stations and administrators in the Family Islands that do work for us.

“So we have done a framework to look at this aspect. But any time you have a manual system there will be fraudulent activity.”

Mrs Hanna Martin said officials are in the process of completely automating the department, but this will take about 12 months to complete.

Last week, Tribune Business reported that police were called to investigate the disappearance of $25,400 at the Freeport Passport Office, which has resulted in at least one official facing “disciplinary action”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called in the police upon the recommendation of the auditor general, whose department found that monies received over a four-month period during summer 2015 were not deposited to the Treasury’s bank accounts.

The “special audit” of the Freeport Passport Office, which examined the 14-month period ending on August 21 this year, found that while its cash book was updated daily for revenue receipts, no such action occurred when it came to deposits.